The Luke Behind Editing

This blog is always changing, and often it happens in fairly dramatic sweeps.  My about page is no more given how redundant it seems with my sidebar description and portfolio, but given all the work that went into writing this initial bio I felt I'd share it in a blog post for posterity.     

My name is Luke Fandrich and I'm a video editor and photographer by trade.

Growing up in the small city of Medicine Hat, Alberta I suppose the idea of making movies was as much about escape as it was, ironically, about learning how to appreciate where I came from. 

As an adolescent I saved and bought my first camera, a used Sony 8mm that helped turn a hobby into the  inspiration for a potential career path.  

Throughout my teenage years short projects both in and out of the classroom helped me establish a reputation as somewhat of a film buff - or a great partner for video projects anyway.

How does a kid from the Canadian prairies chase a dream of making movies though? 
I loaded up my old '89 Buick and was off to Saskatchewan . . .

Enrolled in the film program at the University of Regina I dabbled in a range of experiments and techniques that in the moment opened my eyes to a world of possibilities, but ultimately left me questioning if I was actually going to get a job.

Simple assignments soon became memorable challenges, and I can now see how my frustration as a film major mixed with the stress of developing projects under such strict timelines, locked me in a creative pressure cooker that really ignited my independent ambition.

In 2005 I took my first shot at a film festival and ended up winning the Audience Choice award.  The momentum created by gaining that extra confidence resulted in my first international film festival screening in Toronto later that year.

Soon after, festivals, screenings, and contests became my real motivation. Assured now that I wanted to be an editor and filmmaker, I saw these various opportunities as a realistic way to create a name for myself while disconnected from that idealistic vision of a Hollywood career.

From 2006 onward I found my interest in the classroom slip as my work was recognized abroad.

From a nail-biting National Film Board of Canada competition to a digital media festival in South Korea, Youngcuts in Montreal and a surprising Sasktel Cell Phone video contest, my work was traveling further than I ever had and was inspiring some honest recognition.

As I considered myself less and less of an actual student my video work was recognized by the Dean of Fine Arts at the U of R and even by the Premier of Saskatchewan.

My 6 year gig as a struggling film student came to a close.

In mid 2008 I returned to Medicine Hat with my share of student debt and a plan for bigger things. In the meantime I began to work with a local production company as a videographer and editor creating commercials and promotional material.  

The opportunity was all about showcasing my strengths, and it helped me establish contacts and a reputation that to my surprise was allowing me to pay my bills entirely with my editing work.

As the economy cooled in 2009, the lack of projects coming in forced me to look for more work elsewhere.  I took a copywriting position at a website, hired on the basis that they were interested in getting into video themselves.

The position soon transformed and I was establishing and running the in-house video and photography department for the web retailer - an opportunity which continues to show tremendous potential.  

After only a couple years back in the Hat, I found myself to be an increasingly rare commodity.  With full-time video work and contract edits on the side, it's a wonder that I ever stressed myself out about finding video work (not that I take any of it for granted).

Sure enough, I've ended up creating positions for myself in companies that were willing and ready to take a chance on someone who was confident enough to say they could do it.  It's an exhilarating feeling. 

Every day is now a new plot point in a personal story that continues to surpass and challenge my expectations.  Never did I think I'd be creating my own unique editing jobs in a small city in the middle of the Canadian prairies - but at the moment, it seems like the perfect fit.

There's still so much I strive to do, but if my time out of film school has shown me anything, it's that good things come to those who go looking for them.

Exploring Canada Olympic Park

I have yet to attend an Olympic games, but in the summer of 2006 I explored Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta - the site of the 1988 Winter Olympics.  We walked up to check out the bobsled run, and I climbed up a set of terrifying open-grated stairs to get a picture from underneath one of the ski jumps.  It's still a world-class training and athletic facility to this day, and it's also home to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.  

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Review

Slowly but surely I've been crossing nominees off of my Oscar screening list.  A few nights ago, Andrea and I went to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, one of the nine nominees for Best Picture this year.  I'll be blunt about this one, it wasn't very good.

The trailer for this flick had me excited, sort of the way I felt after seeing the trailer for United 93.  I was imaging an emotional, but heartfelt picture about an innocent kid and his soul searching quest to find meaning against the backdrop of 9/11. It looked genuine and fresh.

The problem I had immediately with the film was the kid, to be honest. Part of his back-story is that he has some kind of social disorder or disability (never really defined in the movie) that makes him awkward and emotionally abrupt.  He was always on the verge of a panic attack or he was flying off the walls with rage.  In the first thirty minutes all I kept thinking was, what is his problem?  How am I supposed to relate to him if he's so aggravating to watch? And, really? Someone thought audiences wouldn't find it annoying to centre such a sensitive story around a character who is already this disconnected from reality to begin with?

Like I said, I expected an emotional story, but the kid overwhelms every aspect of the narrative.  His ticks and commentary seemed so gratuitous and heavy handed that I was actually relieved when some of the supporting players finally got a bit of screen time.

The thread of the film is the quest to find a lock for a key that is found in the father's closet after he dies during the attacks.  I actually really liked the concept, but was scratching my head again when it wasn't really explained why the key should be relevant to begin with.  Even the close relationship between the father and son didn't really justify that this seemingly random find would be worthy of scouring the city to find answers for. I suppose it could be argued that the quest to find meaning in some of these traumatic events is a hopeless search, but I still found myself thinking that wouldn't the kid be more content to search out a part of his father's actual history? Something that he already knew was important to his father?

I know in my own experiences in dealing with loss that I'm not looking to give random items more meaning. You end up looking to expand on the things that you already knew meant something - unfinished business.  The proposed scavenger hunt in Extremely Loud didn't seem grounded enough in many aspects.

When all is said and done though, I would have overlooked so many of the film's flaws if the kid was more relatable, a bit more innocent, more wide-eyed, more raw, and just far less stunted.  In a story that was genuinely full of compelling connections and human stories, why have the main character fight against all of those naturally inspiring encounters instead of adding to them? Why distract us with painfully enigmatic narration and a kid who you have to will yourself to even root for? In short, it was the perfect recipe to continually disconnect from the plot.    

It may be a bit harsh, but this flick isn't anywhere close to being one of the best films from 2011 and certainly shouldn't have been nominated in my opinion.  If you really want to watch a powerful film surrounding 9/11, there are literally ten other flicks that I could recommend to you - United 93 for starters.  Do yourself a favor and embrace the trailer for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and then move on to the other nominees.